EDITORIAL: Okaloosa's TDC mess, a year later

Published: Friday, May 3, 2013 at 05:19 PM.

Since the Boston Marathon bombings, much has been said about the need for citizens to be vigilant in noticing and reporting suspicious activity. In fact, vigilance is a strong antidote not just to terrorism but also to political corruption, the kind of crime that lurks in paperwork and purchase orders.

The kind of crime, in other words, exemplified by Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Council scandal.

It’s believed that Mark Bellinger, when he was head of the TDC, misdirected at least $1.7 million in public funds — bed tax revenue, BP oil spill grants — to unapproved uses.

When county officials came across the title to a $710,000 yacht Bellinger had purchased, they confronted him. He resigned. A year ago Saturday, he committed suicide.
Bellinger left behind a note admitting he had been “extremely deceptive … the past two years.”

Two years was almost his entire stint at the TDC. Yet, for two years, no one got wise to Bellinger’s scheme.

There were warning signs. In September 2010, the TDC bungled a debit card offer that was supposed to lure tourists who’d been spooked by the oil spill. Similar promotions in Walton and Santa Rosa counties were going strong, but Okaloosa’s was shut down in disarray after just two days.

Bellinger kept his job.

After the yacht purchase came to light in April 2012, Bellinger called it a “mistake in judgment.” County commissioners couldn’t agree to fire him. Two commissioners said he should be allowed to learn from his error. Then-County Administrator Jim Curry said, “Mark has done a very good job.”

Bellinger had done an especially good job of covering his tracks. County oversight was practically nil. Even now, a full year after his suicide, the Sheriff’s Office is still plowing through emails and other documents to try to determine the extent of his thievery.

With proper attention from county officials, Mark Bellinger’s fraud scheme should have been discovered and dismantled early on. Certainly, the debit card fiasco should have alerted the county to something awry within the TDC.

All we needed was a little vigilance.

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Since the Boston Marathon bombings, much has been said about the need for citizens to be vigilant in noticing and reporting suspicious activity. In fact, vigilance is a strong antidote not just to terrorism but also to political corruption, the kind of crime that lurks in paperwork and purchase orders.

The kind of crime, in other words, exemplified by Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Council scandal.

It’s believed that Mark Bellinger, when he was head of the TDC, misdirected at least $1.7 million in public funds — bed tax revenue, BP oil spill grants — to unapproved uses.

When county officials came across the title to a $710,000 yacht Bellinger had purchased, they confronted him. He resigned. A year ago Saturday, he committed suicide.
Bellinger left behind a note admitting he had been “extremely deceptive … the past two years.”

Two years was almost his entire stint at the TDC. Yet, for two years, no one got wise to Bellinger’s scheme.

There were warning signs. In September 2010, the TDC bungled a debit card offer that was supposed to lure tourists who’d been spooked by the oil spill. Similar promotions in Walton and Santa Rosa counties were going strong, but Okaloosa’s was shut down in disarray after just two days.

Bellinger kept his job.

After the yacht purchase came to light in April 2012, Bellinger called it a “mistake in judgment.” County commissioners couldn’t agree to fire him. Two commissioners said he should be allowed to learn from his error. Then-County Administrator Jim Curry said, “Mark has done a very good job.”

Bellinger had done an especially good job of covering his tracks. County oversight was practically nil. Even now, a full year after his suicide, the Sheriff’s Office is still plowing through emails and other documents to try to determine the extent of his thievery.

With proper attention from county officials, Mark Bellinger’s fraud scheme should have been discovered and dismantled early on. Certainly, the debit card fiasco should have alerted the county to something awry within the TDC.